The National Team For Foreign Outreach - Yemen

The Health Sector

1. The Ministry of Public Health and Population confirms that addressing the humanitarian crisis in Yemen will not proceed unless the complete blockade on Yemen is lifted and the war is ended once and for all. The Ministry referred to the impacts of the war and siege, which the countries of the War Coalition, led by the US, Saudi Arabia and the UAE, have been waging on Yemen for more than seven years, as follows:

• As of August 2022, the number of civilian casualties has reached 47,081 victims, including 15,483 killed and 31,598 wounded; 25% of the victims were children and women.
• More than 162 health facilities were completely destroyed and 375 were partially damaged and rendered out of work.
• 66 medical personnel were killed through direct bombardment by the Saud-led Coalition, and 70 ambulances were burned and destroyed.
• The blockade has resulted in increasing acute malnutrition rates to more than 632,000 children under the age of five and 1.5 million pregnant and lactating women.
• The blockade and intense bombardment with prohibited weapons caused a high rate of congenital malformations at an average of 12,000 deformities and miscarriages at an average of 350,000 cases.
• The blockade has caused an increase in the rate of premature births up to 8% compared to the situation prior to the war on Yemen, with an average of 22599 cases annually.
• During the past 8 years of the ongoing blockade on Yemen, 40,320 pregnant women and 103,680 children died.
• The blockade has caused an increase in the number of tumor patients by 50% over the average at the beginning of the aggression in 2015. It reached 46,204 cases during the year 2021.
• The Saudi-led Coalition has been preventing the entry of vital medical equipment. Meanwhile, international companies have refrained from supplying medicines to Yemen as a result of the blockade.
• Aid shipments have expired as a result of detention in Djibouti as a forcible transit station for assistance to Yemen.
• The limited opening of Sana’a International Airport and the port of Hodeidah under the UN-brokered truce does not meet the minimum needs of the health sector and the needs of patients.
• The Saudi-led Coalition of War on Yemen continues to cut the salaries of health sector cadres and employees, among other public sector employees.
• The humanitarian organizations working in Yemen, especially the World Health Organization (WHO), have reduced financial and logistical support to health centers in various northern governorates of the Republic of Yemen. ‌

2 – The Acting Director of Operations and Advocacy at the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), Ghada Mudawi, spoke about the humanitarian situation in Yemen, pointing out that, “The truce alone cannot be expected to resolve the massive humanitarian crisis in Yemen, including the risk of famine that threatens some areas.” She underscored some reasons for that as follows:

• The exchange rate is now worse than it was before the truce. All the immediate post-truce gains were short-lived, and now fewer people can afford to buy food or other essentials.
• Commercial food imports fell for the fourth month in a row, coming in 30 per cent below the 12-month average. There are serious concerns looming over commercial imports bound for Hodeidah and Saleef – all of which are inspected by the UN Verification and Inspection Mechanism (UNVIM) prior to arrival.

3 – The United Nations indicates that more than 23.4 million people in Yemen are in need of some form of humanitarian assistance and protection, including 12.9 million people in acute need. This is due to a range of factors, including the economic collapse, the severe shortage of humanitarian funding, in addition to the floods, torrential rains and severe climate changes that Yemen is witnessing. The United Nations details the number of Yemenis who are suffering and in need of some forms of humanitarian assistance, as follows:

• 19 million people are projected to face acute food insecurity.
• 17.8 million people lack access to safe drinking water and appropriate sanitation and hygiene (WASH) services
• Approximately 21.9 million people lack access to basic health care services.
• More than 6.3 million people have been internally displaced from their homes since the beginning of the war and blockade on Yemen, including about 5.3 million people who are still internally displaced, while a million of them have returned back to their original homes from which they were displaced.